Popular Direct is a new online bank (really just a new arm of Banco Popular North America or BPNA for short). They offer a bank account with an advertised rate of 1.26% APY deposits are insured by FDIC. Let’s take a look and see if there are any gotcha’s.
The Basics
- 1.26% APY, with a minimum deposit of $5,000 is advertised
- Interest compounds daily, credited to your account monthly on the last day of the month
- $4 monthly fee if your balance is under $500 on any day within a statement period
- $25 early account termination fee if the account is closed within 180 days
- $5,000 minimum opening deposit required
- You can ACH transfer money out of this account
- You can have a maximum of one external bank account linked
- 5 day hold on outgoing ACH transfers
- $5 per month inactivity fee if your account is inactive for 12 months
A full list of fees can be found here.
1.26% APY
On their savings disclosure page, they list five different interest rate tiers:
- $.01 – $4,999.99
- $5,000 to $24,999.99
- $25,000 to $49,999.99
- $50,000 – $99,999.99
- $100,000 +
For some reason, there isn’t actually any interest rate listed next to those tiers (I also tried to contact them and received no response). They also don’t guarantee that rate for any period of time. Popular Community Bank does offer another 1.26% APY account on their main website and this is guaranteed for six months (then it drops to the standard rate), but requires a $10,000 minimum deposit.
I suspect this is just a teaser rate as well and will drop after six months, but it’s possible they’ll keep it going for longer.
F.A.Q’s
Is it a soft pull?
Popular Community Bank is a soft pull and as these accounts are issued through them, this should also be a soft pull.
Can you fund with a credit card?
Our Verdict
There are other savings accounts (with no requirements) that offer an APY of up to 1.11% and rewards accounts (with requirements) that offer rates of up to 6%. This offer is pretty good for a basic savings account, but it’s not great if it’s just a six month teaser rate (you’d be better off just focusing on accounts with a sign up bonus instead). I’m a bit worried about the fact that the different tiers also don’t have interest rates assigned, I tried to contact Popular Bank but didn’t receive a response.
Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
Hat tip to Deposit Accounts
